Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative last month announced a radical change in its policy for handling installation of services at locations requiring build-ins.

Today, if you plan to build a new home or purchase and install a mobile home where erection of new poles and lines is required, the co-op will provide a combination meter cabinet and/or pedestal. BREC will own and maintain these facilities, and the co-op member will install a conduit-protected underground service to the point of connection at the bottom of the breaker box.

Formerly, BREC installed an overhead service from the transformer pole to a meter base and pole provided and owned by the member. Now, the co-op will own the meter cabinet/pedestal. Why did the co-op’s Board of Trustees decide to make such a major change?

First, due to the rising cost of materials and transportation, making repeat trips to new service locations had become economically unfeasible. Eventually, these rising costs would have had to be recovered in higher service fees or through the rate base.

We therefore sought a way to complete the construction job and energize the service without having to return to the site. The combination meter cabinet/pedestal allows our Operations personnel to ready the new service immediately. Because the units are equipped with breakers, they can be energized safely while awaiting completion of work by the member’s electrician. With this policy, there is no difference between temporary service and permanent in the field.

Second, conversion to BREC-owned meter cabinets/pedestals defined the critical point of service for the third-party agency inspectors working on behalf of the Ohio Manufactured Homes Commission (OMHC). Effective July 1, all new manufactured housing in the state or old manufactured housing being relocated must undergo three installation inspections.

Foundation, electrical, and final inspections must be completed and the installation OK’d before a manufactured housing unit can be occupied. The Catch-22 situation is that power is needed for the second and final inspections.

Ohio’s electric cooperatives looked at the new regulations and immediately realized that the number of trips co-op linemen would have to make to a new service location might double, triple, or quadruple if a clear delineation of ownership and responsibility for electrical facilities was not be made. The issue was simply this: what is subject to inspection?

We met with OMHC officials and found them to be fully understanding of the issue and eager to help define whether utility-owned facilities would fall under the inspection rules.

By owning the meter cabinet/pedestal and designating the disconnect point at the bottom of the unit, the co-ops can continue providing new electric service in a timely, cost-effective manner. Co-op members are relieved of the responsibility of owning the meter base and pole. And, the co-op can energize the new service quickly for the required inspections.

BREC’s Board of Trustees decided to apply the new policy across the board. Manufactured homes and site-built structures alike will be served by cooperative-owned meter cabinets/pedestals.

Existing overhead services and customer-owned meter bases/poles will remain in the field until upgrades are necessary. When this occurs, members will be given the option of converting to a meter cabinet/pedestal and installing underground service.

Finally, we should see fewer outages related to downed service lines during severe storm situations. It might take years for the number of underground services to grow enough to make an appreciable difference, but we are keenly aware of what can happen during an ice storm or tornado to customer-owned electric facilities and overhead lines.